Lebanon’s President Fires Back at Hezbollah: ‘Traitors Drag Their Country Into War’

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun pushed back yesterday (Monday) against Hezbollah after the group criticized him over contacts with Israel and accused him of “treason.”

Aoun responded: “What we are doing is not treason. Traitors are those who drag their country into war to serve foreign interests. My goal is to bring an end to the war with Israel, similar to a ceasefire. I will not agree to a humiliating deal.”

According to reports in several Arab media outlets, Hezbollah is preparing a plan aimed at undermining the president and derailing efforts toward an arrangement with Israel. A report in the Lebanese newspaper Nidaa’ al-Watan said the group intends to use the coming weeks of the ceasefire to carry out a coordinated campaign against Aoun and disrupt diplomatic contacts, in an effort to preserve its influence in the country.

Aoun added: “Negotiation is not concession, and diplomacy is not surrender. Our contacts are continuing in order to stop the killing and the destruction.” In recent months, he has also pushed—unsuccessfully—for Hezbollah’s disarmament and called for an end to Iranian interference in Lebanon.

His remarks came after Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said earlier yesterday: “We absolutely reject direct negotiations, and the authorities should know their actions will not benefit Lebanon or themselves. An agreement is treason against Lebanon.”

Qassem added that the “weapon of resistance” must be maintained to confront Israel, saying the group will not give up its arms. “We will respond to Israeli aggression and confront it,” he said. “No matter what the enemy threatens, we will not retreat, we will not bow, and we will not be defeated.”